Fibres. 



328 



[April 1908. 



Consumption op Sisal Fibre, 

 fluctuation in prices. 

 During; the eleven years between 189-1 

 and 1905, the following quantities and 

 values of the importations of sisal into 

 the United States will show the magni- 

 tude of the industry :— 



Market 

 Average prices 

 price per for best 

 ton. samples. 



£ s, d. £ s. d. 



Year. Tons. Value. 



1894 

 1895 

 1896 

 1897 

 1898 

 1899 

 1900 

 190 L 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 



48,468 

 47,596 

 52,130 

 63,266 

 68,322 

 71,898 

 76,921 

 70,076 

 89,583 

 87,025 

 109,214 

 200,000 



£ 



748,414 

 548,679 

 682,552 

 766,946 

 1,033,980 

 1,840,275 

 2,454,638 

 1,660,950 

 2,491,919 

 2,789,634 

 3,319,907 

 8,265,819 



15 9 2 

 11 19 11 



13 1 

 12 2 



14 2 



25 13 

 30 13 

 22 16 



26 16 

 30 11 

 30 7 

 35 



11 



6 

 5 

 

 2 

 8 

 8 

 3 

 9 

 



16 6 8 



27 18 4 



34 4 2 



35 8 4 



32 11 

 43 1 

 36 

 40 

 35 



6 8 

 6 8 



The exports of fibre from Yucatan, in 

 1903, amounted to 590,430 bales, of a value 

 of £3,333,114. In addition to this, 

 Mexico exported binder twine to the 

 value of £92,595. 



In 1904, a sale was effected in New 

 York at £40 6s. 8d. per ton. 



In 1908, a Mexican consignment to New 

 York was withdrawn from sale, £39 13s. 

 4d. per ton being refused. 



During the eleven years cited it will 

 be seen that the importation have not 

 only nearly doubled, but the price 

 obtained per ton has, during the same 

 time, increased proportionately, making 

 the value for 1903 approximately five 

 times as much as that for 1894. 



During 1905 and 1906 the price per ton 

 has still further advanced, ranging from 

 £35 to £37 10s. per ton, whilst produc- 

 tion cannot keep pace with the demand. 

 The reduction of the output of Manila 

 hemp, which latter article usually regu- 

 lates the hemp market, has had a still 

 further effect in raising the price of 

 sisal, whilst the expansion of wheat- 

 growing industry in the United States, 

 Canada, Australasia, and other colonies 

 indicates a still greater demand for 

 binder twine and a corresponding 

 increase in price. 



The principal product of the Agave, 

 however, is the fibre, and one of the 

 most important manufactures from it is 

 binder twine, for which purpose it is 

 better adapted than any other fibre. 

 When we consider the enormous areas 

 under wheat in many parts of the world, 

 we may cease to wonder at the great 



demand for sisal fibre. The enormous 

 stretches of prairie lands under wneat 

 in the United States of North America, 

 and in Canada, as well as in some States 

 of South America, enable us to under- 

 stand why £3,000,000 worth of the fibre 

 are annually purchased in New York 

 from Yucatan alone. In Australia we 

 have, approximately, 6,000,000 acres 

 iinder wheat, and although strippers 

 and complete harvesters are used to 

 some extent, yet thousands of reapers 

 and binders are at work in harvest time, 

 consuming from 2| to 3, and even 4 lb., 

 of twine per acre. If all this area had 

 been cut by reaper and binder, the total 

 cost of the twine, at 7d. per lb., duty 

 paid, would have amounted to £525,000. 

 The raw material required in its manu- 

 facture would total over 10,000 tons, 

 including waste at the rope works. The 

 value of this quantity at £35 per ton 

 would be £350,000, which would have 

 gone into Queensland farmers' pockets 

 in addition to the value of their other 

 crops. It will thus be seen that there 

 is an opening for a very large trade in 

 the product. 



An extract of the leaves is used to 

 make soap. A strip of the pole makes 

 a splendid razor-strop, owing to the 

 silica it contains. The roots are used in 

 Europe to mix with sarsaparilla. The 

 fibre makes excellent paper, so does the 

 pith of the flower pole. In fact, sisal 

 is the most highly approved of all fibres 

 for the purpose, as it makes a strong, 

 tough, smooth paper, which feels like 

 oiled paper ; and, even when unsized, 

 may be written upon without the ink 

 running. 



Summary. 

 From the foregoing dissertation on the 

 cultivation and preparation of sisal 

 fibre, and from what I have shown as 

 to its peculiar adaptability to our 

 Queensland climate, and what markets 

 are available for the product, the reader 

 cannot fail to come to the conclusion 

 that there is a grand future for the 

 industry in this State, So long as people 

 will not entertain exaggerated ideas 

 of the profits to be derived from sisal 

 cultivation, but will be contented to 

 look upon a yield of half a ton of market- 

 able fibre per acre as an average crop, 

 there is not the least probability of dis- 

 appointment. It is quite possible to 

 obtain a yield of from 15 cwt. to 1 ton 

 per acre, and judging by the results 

 already obtained here, and by the 

 superior weight of the Queensland leaf, 

 the higher yield is most likely to be 

 obtained. The instance of the heavy 

 yield at St. Helena cannot be taken as 

 one which will be repeated on regularly 

 ] aid-out plantations. 



